The traditional fifth anniversary gift is something made of wood, or "Bois" in French.

Bois is our fifth anniversary ale, loosely brewed in the English-style Old Ale tradition using our house Belgian yeast strain and then blended using the solera method. A portion of each of our anniversary ales is saved in our barrels and blended in with the next year's production, providing more complexity and depth of character that comes with age. Layered with complex flavors of dark fruit,vanilla, oak, and burnt sugar, Bois is a robust ale, surely the perfect beer to mark this major milestone.

Reviews by N_Schleret:

A: Pours a 1 finger head that dissipates to a thin ring. Blotchy lacing. Looks like Coca-Cola. S: Bourbon up front. Toffee/caramel, and vanilla notes follow. T: Bourbon up front. Extremely sweet with toffee, caramel, and vanilla. Alcohol is noticeable but easy to drink with the high ABV.M: Fills the palate. Dry and sticky. O: ABV becomes more present as it warms up. Lots going on with this beer, very complex.

More User Reviews:

750 ml wax capped bottle, 04/02/13 stamped on the bottle so I'll assume that's the bottling date. Served in a DFH snifter, the beer pours a murky dark reddish/brown color with about a half inch tan head that didn't stick around for very long. Not much lacing, either. Aroma is sweet and malty, the brew smells like vanilla, bourbon, dark fruit (figs, plums, raisins), molasses, brown sugar and caramel. I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some red grapes, maple and woodiness noticeable. It's a little boozy, but not as much I thought it would be. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's slick and a bit syrupy with moderate carbonation. I thought this was pretty good. Is it $35 a bottle good, I'm not quite sure. But I did like this a lot!

1 pint 9.4 fl oz thick brown glass bottle with beeswax-ed over pry-off pressure cap acquired at a bottle shop in the L.A. area years ago for $30.00 USD and served into an Odell stem-tulip in me friend's gaff in high altitude Fort Collins, Colorado. Reviewed live. Expectations are average; I've tried other beers in this solera series and they disappointed. 15% ABV. 2013 anniversary. Reviewed as an old ale because the label clearly identifies it as such.

Served cold and allowed to warm over the course of consumption. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: One finger wide. Pale light khaki colour. Okay consistency. Smooth. Somewhat even. No lacing sticks to the sides of the glass as the head recedes. Retention is awful - about 40 seconds - but it's forgivable given the 15% ABV.

It's boozy as all hell, and has no balance whatsoever; it's a chaotic mess. Incohesive, and certainly not gestalt.

Complicated, but not intricate in a refined sense. Lacks subtlety. Very overt and heavy-handed, lacking a focus.

INTENSE flavours. But they're not really deep. Flavour duration is well above average.

TEXTURE: Chewy, smooth, relatively dry, withered....it feels like caramelized candied raisin. Tough. Heavy. Full-bodied. Unnecessarily heavy and weighty on the palate. Sticky. Lightly syrupy. Overcarbonated (in spite of its age and ABV). This is overbearing on the palate and impedes drinkability. Certainly not refreshing.

Poor presence on the palate. This texture fits in with the conventions of an old ale, but does a poor job attempting to complement the taste.

OVERALL: Hmm. She's a sipper, and the booziness is obvious from the first sip. This is yet another overpriced overrated mess of a solera beer from The Bruery, and isn't a beer I'd recommend to anyone. I'm glad I have help from a friend trying to finish this bottle; I'd hate to try to take one down alone. Not sure why people seem to love this. And can we get a moratorium on bottling difficult-to-drink dessert beers in large format bottles?

Big thanks to Doug for breaking out this bottle - much appreciated! Bois pours a thick and deep, syrupy brown color that's only translucent up near the top of the brew, right below the head. The cap is light-tan in color and plumps up nicely before it breaks down into a swampy film and collar on the top of the viscous brew. Pretty much what you'd expect from a super high gravity old ale.

Sticky caramel, sweet molasses, brown sugar, and a heavy, heavy booziness that flows in and out of your nostrils, from one side of the other. This beer smells big. It smells big and sweet... and that's because it *is* big and sweet. Mild hints of vanilla and plenty of sweet dark fruits creep out, rounding out what is quite a large and robust aroma.

I take one sip and my palate is immediately coated with a warm, boozy, and sticky lathering of caramel, toffee, and sweet, plum and raisin preserves. The booze is ever-present and a touch more than warming, almost crossing over into "hot" territory. I will say, though, that the intense booziness sure helps to cut the equally intense malt sweetness that Bois is made of.

The afterthought is still loaded with finishing sweetness; toffee and caramelized sugars, with fading touches of sweet plums and raisins as an nutty and oaky kiss of death swoops in and leaves your palate feeling like you just made out with a stave covered in brown sugar. The body is thick and plump like Anna Nicole Smith yet still sexy smooth like Cameron Diaz's first appearance in "The Mask".

I still struggle with the question of "why does The Bruery choose to bottle their borderline hard alcohol level beers in gigantic ass bottles," as this would be another solid choice for twelve ouncers or even nips. It'll take you a while to trounce through six ounces even, but it'll be very tasty and decadent along the way. A very nice old ale that's as robust on the palate as it sounds on paper... or, excuse me, papier.

S: Initially there's a big dark fruit presence, but as the beer opens up a bit you get slammed with bourbon. Beautiful smell.

T: Right off the bat there's a sweet taste, almost cider-like. A huge bourbon caramel blast comes through shortly after along with a beautiful finish of coffee, chocolate, toffee, and bourbon. Unbelievably complex.

M: Great body and perfect carbonation. As this one warms up, the booziness comes through.

O: A beer I will always crave. Couldn't drink this guy every day, but The Bruery nailed this style. Would love to age this one.